


Unlikely Alliances

by yunayoyoe



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23841997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yunayoyoe/pseuds/yunayoyoe
Summary: Zack is aiming for the top at Shinra in the hopes of becoming a hero, while Cloud is a member of AVALANCHE and wants to burn Shinra to the ground.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 14
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ffvii remake really did wonders to open up a possibility of Cloud being an active and interested part of Avalanche (in his own Cloud-like way, of course) and I just found that so interesting!!!!  
> So here I am, with my take on that, and you best believe that I am including motherfucking Zack Fair because he is *BACK*!

It was just another day really. Another day of mindlessly standing by the Shinra gate and counting the clouds passing by.

They weren’t allowed to talk to each other, and really, even if they were, Zack’s patrol mate was as stale as a week-old white loaf of bread.

Sometimes, when his positivity managed to slip him, Zack wondered if this is what 2 years of brutal training led up to.

He sighed as cloud number 406 floated off, the very image of freedom passing him by.

Just then, Zack began to hear chanting in the distance. He tensed and looked at Greg the patrol mate, only to find that Greg nearly seemed to have fallen asleep standing; if his drooling mouth was anything to go by. Zack turned his eyes back down the street, squinting for some reason, as he looked out for the source of the chants that were getting closer.

Then, he began to make out the words… This was clearly the chanting of a protesters, and they were very obviously heading this way.

Zack had heard of the protests that sometimes took place before the gate to Shinra HQ, but he’d never _actually_ been told what to do in case it happened on his shift. For a moment he wondered if he should call his superior, but ugh… his superior was such a fucking hardass. He’d give him the time of the day for not knowing the procedures, even if it was _his_ damn job to teach it to Zack.

For now, Zack would wait and see how it all played out.

Just as he’d made his mind up, he saw the activists’ approach. They weren’t a very large group, in fact, with how loud their voices had been, he’d thought they’d been a lot more…

He noticed that leading them, was a very tall man, and that his voice was the loudest of them all. They were in all only seven people… Zack almost felt bad for how small the group was.

Interestingly, Zack noticed there was a young guy, maybe around his own age, blonde and blue eyes, who didn’t look nearly as passionate as the others, actually, it even looked like he was faking his own chanting.

“ _Zack!”_ Greg whisper yelled, seemingly having woken up from his nap. “ _What do we do_?”

Zack shrugged, “Hell if I know.” He said and left it at that. Greg wasn’t the type to make any decisions on his own, so Zack would be able to see how it all played out in peace. He’d never seen a demonstration before, and he was honestly quite interested in what they had to say.

For now, the only thing he could see was a sign saying “SHINRA IS KILLING THE PLANET” and another one saying, “JOIN THE CAUSE; JOIN AVALANCHE”.

The tall loud man made an abrupt motion then, and the chanting stopped. He filled his lungs with air, and practically shouted a speech.

For a moment, Zack listened, and it became apparent to him that these were eco-activists. He didn’t know too much about these people and what their views were, so he was intrigued. But at the same time… he was working, Greg was freaking out and the Shinra employees that went in and out of the gate were looking _very_ annoyed.

Zack sighed, back to work.

He stepped up to the tall man, “I’m sorry sir, but you aren’t allowed to do any protest here.” He said, although he didn’t really know if that was true or not.

“Hell!” Shouted the man, “I. Don’t. Give a damn!”

“Yeah!” shouted a large man with a friendly face.

“This is for the planet!” said a girl with a ponytail then.

“You’re working for murderers’ man” A guy said rather calmly, but condescendingly.

“Yeah! Boooo!” said a girl in a pink dress.

As the activists were all booing Zack, he noticed that Greg began to contact their superior. Zack knew that if that was the case, he needed to at least look like he had things under control when that hardass came.

“See, I’ll have to arrest you if you keep on bothering the people here.”

“We aren’t bothering anyone; your company is the one that’s bothering the planet.” Said a girl with long dark hair.

“You’re going to arrest all of us? I’d like to see you try.” Said the tall man threateningly, towering over Zack as he inched closer.

In that moment, Zack caught something moving in his side view, something blonde and a little shorter than himself. Zack moved quickly, and within an instant, he had one of the activists with their face against the wall and hands behind his back.

“Don’t move! You’re trespassing on Shinra property!” He said as he pressed harder against the guy, the blonde grunted and their tall and loud leader looked like he was just about to attack Zack, when Zack’s superior finally showed up. He wasn’t alone however, he had a squad of men with him with their guns already pointing at the activists and what was worse, _Heidegger_ was with them.

“Avalanche… again.” He said, “Why am I not surprised? You must enjoy receiving fines.” Then, he looked to the side and spotted Zack. “Oho? Did we get a little rat this time around?”

“Sir! He was about to trespass, but I managed to contain him before the crime!” Zack told his superior and interestingly, the blondes strong wriggles seemed to stop.

“Tch, never a barer of good news, are you Fair?” mumbled Zack’s superior.

“Sir?”

“Nevermind then,” Heidegger said dismissingly and turned to the activists “you sewer rats will be receiving your due fines, now off you go. Oh! and I must thank you for continuing to fund our noble corporation.”

The leader of the activists seemed to positively boil with anger then, and Heidegger smiled cruelly, “Oho? Perhaps you’d like to spend the night in cell instead? I know the president would love to see you behind bars instead of having anything to do with your dirty gil.”

There was a moment, where it really did seem as if the leader of the activists was about to sucker punch Heidegger into next week. A girl with long dark hair went up to his side then, and held his shaking fist with her small hands. This seemed to calm the leader, but only slightly. With pure malice, the leader spat on the ground before he turned, “Let’s go guys.”

Understanding the situation, Zack released the guy he’d been holding, and the guy sprang away like some kind of angry hissing cat. The blonde shook his wrist and then looked up at Zack with cold blue eyes, “That hurt, fucker.” He said before he flipped Zack the bird.

For a second Zack felt his jaw drop, but then in the next one, he found himself trying to contain the urge to laugh.

They were a group of interesting characters, that much was for sure.

“What did you do that for Cloud?! Do you _want_ to get arrested?” the girl in the pink dress asked as they were all walking away. Cloud, as was apparently his name, shrugged indifferently and the girl seemed to pout at that.

Once they were all out of sight, they began their chants again and once Zack couldn’t hear them anymore, he continued counting clouds.

~

It was just another night really, where Zack and Kunsel had decided to get some beers in the slums to discuss the happenings of the day.

They rather liked to frequently rotate between places (mostly because people in the slums never took it so nicely when they found out they were Shinra…), and Zack had heard about a place called seventh heaven for quite a while now, so that is where the two of them decided to go.

It didn’t look like anything special, from the outside, it looked just like a bar. Opening the door however, Zack instantly saw some familiar faces. He tensed for a bit but tried to act cool. They didn’t know who he was, he’d been wearing the Shinra infantry helmet after all, and God knows that made them all look eerily soulless and a lot like one another.

The two of them walked up towards the counter, where the girl with the long dark hair was smiling and greeting them politely. “Welcome to 7th Heaven, what can I get you two?” She asked, looking between the two and obviously not recognizing Zack.

“Thanks! We’ll get two beers.” Kunsel answered and the two of them took a seat at the bar when the girl nodded and went off to get the beers.

“Don’t act suspicious, but this bar is full of the activist from today.” Zack said quietly, to which a disbelieving smile spread on Kunsel’s face.

“No way man, are you serious??”

“Dead.”

Then, Kunsel couldn’t help but laugh. “Way to make it obvious, idiot.” Zack complained right as the bartender got back to them with beers in tow, Zack thanked her and handed her some gil.

“The name is Tifa by the way, I own this here establishment. Haven’t seen the two of you around here before, you from out of town?” Tifa asked as she leaned over in curiosity from her side of the counter.

Kunsel looked somewhere he very much shouldn’t, perhaps forgetting he wasn’t wearing the Shinra helmet he nearly lived in, but at least he had the decency not to look for long when Zack coughed and answered on their behalf. “Partially, yeah. Kunsel here is born and raised, but I’m from the countryside, been living here for some time now though.”

“A country bumpkin, then?” she asked, and laughed a little shyly, “we have someone like that around here too,” she nodded her head in the direction, “antisocial blonde with the books over there.”

Zack noticed that this was the blonde he’d nearly arrested early, Cloud was his name if he remembered correctly. The other looked up then, as if he knew someone was talking about him, and Zack quickly looked away.

“Anyways, I’ll leave you boys to it! Holler at me if you need anything else.” Tifa told them as she went out to a customer who was calling her over.

“If this isn’t awkward, I don’t know what is.” Zack said before he took a big gulp of his beer.

“I mean, we can leave if you want.” Kunsel offered after a sip of his own.

“Nah, I’m good. It’s pretty cozy here.” Just as Zack had said that however, he felt someone was walking up to them. It was hard to ignore your own reflexes, especially when your superior liked to pick on you the most, but Zack somehow managed _not_ to throw the guy on impulse.

“Hey, you.” a somewhat familiar voice said, and Zack turned around to see none other than the blonde from earlier. “Come with me.” He said, and without even waiting for a reply, the blonde walked out of the bar.

Zack looked to the side only to see Kunsel with wide eyes and a slack jaw that was slowly morphing into an excited smile, “You think he knows it’s you??” He asked with entertainment obvious in his tone.

Zack sighed and slid of the bar stool, “I’ll be right back” he told his friend as he followed the blonde outside.

Cloud stood a little to the side, in a sketchy dark corner next to the bar, and Zack considered momentarily if the guy was planning to stab him violently or some such thing.

“Errr….” Zack started, scratching the back of his head as he got closer, “So?”

“You’re Shinra.” The guy said flatly, his eyes icy cold and arms crossed before him.

“Ahaha… is this where I play dumb?” Zack tried cutely.

The guy didn’t say anything and simply continued his hard condescending stare.

Zack sighed, if it came to a fight, that’s just what it came to. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had tried to have a brawl just because he was Shinra, “What gave me away?”.

“Your voice.” The guy answered shortly.

Zack was surprised, “You’ve got a good hearing memory.”

The guy rolled his eyes then, “Yeah whatever. What are you doing here anyways, came to spy on us?”

Zack, who had never even considered the possibility of doing so, quickly raised his hands to show his innocence. “Woah, no way man. Me and Kunsel were just going to a bar and we heard a bit about this place. Supposedly has got one of the best bartenders in the slums.”

The blonde scoffed, “Why do I have such a hard time believing you, I wonder?”

Zack looked a little sheepish then, “I know it seems like a crazy coincidence, but that’s just life sometimes. You’ve never had a coincidence occur to you before?”

For a moment, it seemed like the blonde was considering this, perhaps thanking back to his own life and finding those coincidences.

“What were you trying to do by entering the Shinra building anyways?”

“What any good eco-terrorist would do, get some evidence to incriminate his enemy.” He said arrogantly.

Zack’s eyes went as wide as saucers, “Woah there Spike!” and Zack continued despite the blonde ludicrous expression at the nickname, “Terrorist? You really wanna call yourself that to me, knowing who I am?”

At that, the blonde seemed to forget the nickname, and scoffed instead, “What can you do? Shinra infantrymen are nothing but lapdogs.”

Zack, seeing his outrageous courage, however, couldn’t help but smile. “You’re really something.” The smile and compliment seemed to bother him, which Zack rather enjoyed, “I guess I’ll have to watch out for you then.”

“I guess you will.” He said, pushing away from the dark corner and moving back towards the bar.

Zack stood still and watched as the guy entered the bar. Then, for some reason, Zack startled himself with a laugh of his own. “Eco-terrorist, huh… Well how about that?”

~

Zack felt his head split open as the hellishly loud morning call sounded off in the Infantry Dorm.

It was so fucking stupid… everyone woke up at the same time, even if you didn’t have a shift that day! The only way to get around that, was if sleeping at a motel, which in all fairness, most of the guys did.  
  
In any case, Zack had a hangover.

That bartender, Tifa… her drinks didn’t mess around. 

Zack could hear Kunsel groaning and trying to block the sound of the ringing with his pillow, but it was to no avail. The morning call would, as it always did, go into the morning announcement of the day and the announcement was honestly needlessly long.

You couldn’t sleep through it. It was designed for _no one_ to sleep through it.

So, there was nothing to do really, while he left Kunsel to wallow with the pains inside his head and the nausea in his stomach, Zack went off to take a shower and go somewhere for some hangover soup.

When Zack got to that one underground Wutai-style restaurant, the auntie there greeted him lovingly, and while Zack wasn’t in the best shape, he did have the decency to hug her and ask how she was doing.

“Is Yuffie around?” Zack asked once he was eating the soup and the auntie had sat down to join him.

“She’s at school. Seems to have gotten more studious as of late!”

“That doesn’t sound like the Yuffie I know.” Zack said around a mouthful.

“I know!” the auntie agreed and laughed, “It’s after she started that planetology course I tell you.”

Zack’s eyebrows furrowed then, “Planetology? Really? Sound pretty niche.” He’d never really understood what that particular course was about.

The auntie shrugged, “Whatever makes her happy” she said simply, to which Zack shrugged in agreement.

When Zack left the auntie’s restaurant, he couldn’t help but think back to the night before. He didn’t usually drink to the point of a total blackout, but there were times when he felt pieces missing from his memory after a particular baller night. Yesterday, apparently, had been one such night.

Kunsel however, had a pretty intact memory most of the time and was often able to fill in the blanks… Zack figured then, that maybe he should get back to Kunsel, make sure his friend was alive and all that.

Once back at the dorm, Zack walked in to find Kunsel in the common room by himself, a slice of pizza in hand as he watched tv. “Zack!” Kunsel greeted from the sofa, “there was pizza yesterday, you want a slice?”

“That pizza wouldn’t do my body any good,” Zack said as he parkoured over the couch to sit next to Kunsel.

“Yeah well, those beers and cocktails aren’t doing you much good either.”

“Point taken,” Zack said as he sneaked off a slice, “thanks”

On the tv, a cartoon adaptation of Stamp, Shinra’s official mascot, was playing.

It was blatant propaganda really, almost to a nauseating degree, but Zack would always catch Kunsel watching it, the morning after they’d gone drinking. And for whatever reason, Zack always found himself joining his friend for an episode or two.

It was a wholesome show about Stamp going around helping the people of Midgar and making friends along the way, you couldn’t really hate it.

“So, I can’t remember much about last night. Anything I need to be reminded of?” Zack asked without much worry, he was not really the type to make a fuss when drunk after all.

However, when Kunsel nearly dropped his pizza, he knew something had to have gone terribly wrong, and _especially_ so when Kunsel actively tried to avoid eye contact.

“ _Kunsel”_ Zack said in a warning tone.

“Zack,” Kunsel said, turning to his friend with some obvious difficulty. “Somethings… sometimes… are maybe best left forgotten.”

Zack rolled his eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic, just tell me what happened.”

Then, a strange smiled seemed to spread on Kunsel’s face, “you _cried_ man,” Kunsel said before he burst out in laughter.

“wait, WHAT? Why did I cry?!!” Zack demanded as he shook his laughing friend, but as he did, suddenly he felt the memories coming back to him.

_It was late, everyone in the bar had had a couple of Tifa’s baller drinks, people had gotten into dangerous dart games and some had blasted the music and danced like fools. Zack had of course, joined in on all of those activities and in his drunken state hadn’t realized that he was making friends with the eco-terrorists._

_For whatever reason, when Zack reached that point in the night where he was very drunk and very tired yet hyperactive, Barret, the leader of them, had gone up on a table and started a speech._

_In his speech he said a lot of things very intensively. He spoke of the mako/lifestream energy, of Shinra, of humanity and the dark future before them, and then he spoke of the future he wanted to shape for his daughter, Marlene._

_Just when Jessie had yelled at Barret not to get so emotional, Zack, of all the people at the bar, found himself with tears streaming down his face._

_“Are you_ crying?!” _Cloud had asked, so surprised he got up from his chair with a horrified look on his face._

_Zack hadn’t known why Cloud was still at the bar. The blonde hadn’t been drinking, for one, and he also hadn’t participated in any games or conversations. He had a book, which Zack had caught the other reading a couple times, but otherwise it seemed he was simply there to observe._

_Maybe he was keeping an eye on Zack, since he knew he was Shinra._

_But then again, Zack wasn’t really sure why the blonde hadn’t already told his friends his identity._

_“It’s just… so sad.” Zack replied with a sniffle._

_“Awwww, he’s such a baby.” Aerith said as she wiped his tears away with a flowery handkerchief._

_“Thank you.” Zack told her, for wiping his tears. However, everyone else seemed to misunderstand, and a laughter boomed throughout the room as a blush crept up on Zack’s face._

_“You_ like _being called a baby?!” Jessie asked, although she could barely speak from all her laughing._

_Zack got up from his chair at that, “NO!” he protested childishly, “If anyone is baby,” he began, and then looked around the room in panic before his eyes fell on a certain blonde head, “It’s YOU!”_

_At that, the laughter in the room got even louder, and Cloud, who had been wearing nothing but a cold pokerface the whole evening began to blush furiously._

“I remember.” Zack said as he limply let go of Kunsel, “Oh my God Kunsel… I remember everything.”

“YOU DO??!” Kunsel asked before he threw himself into another fit of laughter, “Zack, I can’t, HAHAHAHA! This is truly one for the ages.”

Zack sighed pathetically and began to nibble on his pizza for something to do. When Kunsel had calmed himself down a little, he turned back to Zack. “But man, you really must be out of your mind. Imagine what would happen if someone found out you made friends with those guys. Even _Heidegger_ considers them a pest, and you’d think that guy would have other things to do.”

“I’m not really friends with them, it was just an evening at a bar. They could have been anyone, you know that.”

Kunsel shrugged, “so you say, but you were emphasizing enough with them to cry for their cause.”

“ _Ugghhhhh”_ Zack groaned as he hid his face in his hands in utter mortification.

“Also… Do you,” Kunsel started, but caught himself already laughing, “Do you remember what you called that guy the rest of the evening.”

Zack shot up then, as sudden as when Stamp the Dog steps on a rake and it flies up and smacks his face. “NO.”

Then, in the most horrific impersonation Zack had ever had the displeasure to witness, Kunsel began “Baby! Come play darts with us Baby! Put down that book, _Baby!_ ”

“NO!!” Zack said, shooting up from the sofa.

“YES!” Kunsel countered, looking the most entertained Zack had ever seen him. “ _God_ you were such a pest! That guy looked he seriously wanted to murder _you_ and then _himself_.”

Zack slumped back down into the couch and hogged Kunsel’s blanket as he hid himself from view, “Don’t you dare say another word.”

Kunsel barked a laugh, “Not much honor left to protect, huh big guy?”

“Off yourself.”

“Tch tch,” Kunsel scolded, but then his attention was grabbed by something else, Stamp the Dog, meeting what would eventually become his best friend later on in the series, although they didn’t quite get along in the beginning. “I love this episode!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the positive feedback! I hope you'll like this chapter too (◡‿◡✿)

Interestingly, when something embarrassing happens to Zack it almost seems like fate wants to see how far it can stretch the joke.

The case with AVALANCHE and one particular blonde headed member, was no exception.

For one evening, which was supposed to be a just another evening really, Zack spotted a girl selling flowers on the street.

While Zack had never seen a flower girl before, it wasn’t until he saw her face that he suddenly found himself slowing his pace.

Her face seemed oddly familiar.

Suddenly, he got flashbacks to this very same girl forcing Zack to take several shots and dancing on the counter of the 7th Heaven in a very awkward yet endearing way. Well, endearing right up until she started to scream her lungs out to what she had said was “ _My Jam!!!”_

“Oh!” Zack heard her say, and to his surprise he saw that she’d spotted him and was running prettily his way. “I thought it was you!” She said when she reached Zack.

“Oh, hey there…” Zack greeted, and he wanted to be polite, really, yet he found himself straining to remember the girls name.

At this she seemed very dissatisfied, and placed her hand on her hips, “You don’t remember!”

“Of course, I do!” Zack defended, although that wasn’t quite true. “Uhhh, Aeris?”

The girl shrugged, “Close enough, my friends call me Aerith though.”

“I see… Well, hey to ya Aerith! It was nice meeting ya.” Zack said, and with one wave, he tried to make that his exiting line, moving past her with what he knew was a dashing smile.

“Hold up, you!” Aerith said as she took a hold of his arm. With a smile and an incline of her head she continued, “You know, everyone’s been talking about you ever since that evening. Especially Barret, he won’t stop talking about how you’d make a perfect new member in our group.” She said with a sweet giggle.

Zack couldn’t help but think she was distinctively different when drunk, which was pretty hilarious, but also, _what did she just say????_

“You’re joking, right?” Zack asked.

Aerith shook her head, “I think you’d fit in too, you seemed to really get what our cause was all about.” She said, and couldn’t help but laugh, making Zack blush a little, he knew perfectly well what she was referring to. “You should go to one of Barret’s classes one day, their free and everything.”

“Classes?”

“Yeah! He teaches Planetology in the church in Sector 5.” She told him as Zack looked obviously surprised, “Surprising right? Even more surprising, is that he actually used to be a professor topside, waaaay back when, but then Shinra felt it was too controversial to their company. Because next thing, he was fired and planetology became a banned subject

”

“So… his classes are illegal?” Zack asked, looking at her in disbelief for telling her this, but then remembering that she didn’t know he was Shinra.

She giggled again, “Don’t sweat the details silly.” She said, as she took out a flower from her basket and put it in Zack’s breast pocket, “Also, his teaching assistant is someone I _know_ you’re fond of.” She said and laughed at the confused expression on Zack’s face.

Now, instead of holding him back, she pushed him forward. “The classes are on Sundays at 1pm, be there or be square!”

Zack, whose mind was still reeling from who he would possibly know that was working illegally in the slums as a teaching assistant, turned back to her, "Wait! Who is that teaching assistant?"

She stuck out her tongue, "That's a seeeecret!"

Confused, Zack opened his mouth and closed it, before finally he said, “What are about the flower? What do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house!” she said with a wink, and then she sauntered off down the street and tried to sell flowers to people who were obviously not interested.

~

Zack, by most standards, was generally considered a good boy.

And while he didn’t especially like that people referred to him as a dog, he did pride himself on the fact that he _was_ a man of good character – or as others would still insist – a good boy.

He had a title to uphold and he couldn’t just let curiosity get the best of him! He was working as law enforcement for crying out!

…

Despite this, Zack did find himself wearing an oversized black hoody and a cap on a sunny Sunday afternoon. He truly was looking the most suspicious he’d ever seen himself, walking down a trash littered path, until he found himself before the Church in Sector 5.

As he stood before the nearly collapsing church, he wondered why he was even there…

Was it truly simple curiosity?

Was he there as a spy?

Was he there as a sympathizer?

Zack stood there, with the weight of his responsibilities and his honor as an aspiring SOLDIER on the line and wondered on the implications of being there.

The again, why would Shinra go so far as to ban Planetology as an educational subject?

Zack figured that whatever his reason for being here, it had to be righteous. He was in pursuit of truth, and that couldn’t be considered inherently wrong, could it?

Just then, someone came running full speed and smashed straight into Zack. “Hey! What was that for?!” He asked, turning around and seeing someone a bit too familiar for comfort.

“Zack! Is that you?” Yuffie asked, clearly as surprised as Zack was, she however, seemed excited while Zack seemed mortified.

“Yuffie? What the?” Zack asked, but there was obviously no time to talk, because Yuffie took his hand then and rushed them both towards the church door.

“Can’t say I know why you’re here, but the class has already started, so let’s go!” Yuffie exclaimed, and without even giving Zack a chance to protest, the two of them stood by the door and Yuffie turned to him “Shhh… It’s wutai style-infiltration time. Watch and learn.”

Zack hadn’t known what to expect from that, but he wasn’t too surprised when _wutai-style infiltration_ simply turned out to be what every student does to get into class without being noticed.

Obviously, it didn’t work.

“You’re _late_ Yuffie” a familiar voice said. Zack felt dread sinking in as he looked up to see none other than Cloud, standing at the alter together with Barret. Which was... _weird._ At least there was a small globe showcasing a cross-section of the planet in between them.

Zack was quick to look down again, while he had known Barret would obviously have been here, he hadn’t really been counting on Cloud too. He was such an idiot – of course, Aerith that joker, she’d referred to _Cloud_ when she cryptically told him there was someone here that he was fond of.

It seemed AVALANCHE would never let Zack live it down.

“Sorry, it’s cause’ I brought a friend!” She insisted, and Zack, with his eyes glued to the floor, suddenly couldn’t be happier with being used as an excuse for Yuffie being late – this at least, meant no introductions.

Yuffie’s friend it is.

“Whatever,” Cloud replied arrogantly, “just take a seat.”

The two of them did just that, and Zack looked around discretely, noticing that the church has quite a lot of people in there. From young to old, and from districts further off.

Zack was surprised. Obviously, the subject wasn’t quite as niche as he’d thought….

He only wondered then, on why Avalanche consisted of so few members.

Zack was pulled out of his thoughts however, as Barret began to talk.

For a moment, Zack wondered if that was indeed Barret speaking, but a small glance confirmed it.

His voice was different here, tone less loud and boisterous. Now it seemed so calm and level, almost pedagogical in a way. The kids at least, seemed to find him easy enough to listen to.

Next to him, Zack could see Yuffie taking out a notebook and with her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, she started taking notes. Zack wasn’t really here to get an education but was increasingly being drawn into the concentrated and intrigued atmosphere in the room. Leaning back with hands in his pockets, he began to really take in the contents of the class.

It seemed that the subject of today’s class was the origin of Materia. Being in Shinra, Zack obviously knew a bit about Materia, after all, all troops were issued healing and some form of elemental Materia. 

But as it turned out, Zack found that he didn’t know anything about Materia, except of course, how to use it. The class spoke of what it was made of, how it came to be in natural settings and how it was made in industrialized settings. Then it spoke of different kinds of Materia and lingered especially long on the subject of summons and what these creatures were and represented.

Then, for demonstration purposes, Cloud went ahead and summoned Shiva.

As the room turned cold and snowflakes began to drift, Zack was stunned. He knew it took quite a bit of Magic Power to be able to summon someone like Shiva, this was especially impressive, considering that Cloud wasn’t army trained. Or at least, not that Zack knew of.

During this point in the lesson, Cloud seemed to take over. He commanded the Summon to go around the room and greet the children on the first row, where she made a gentle glittering snow appear, and _oohs_ and _aahs_ sounded throughout the room. As she entertained, Cloud spoke of her story, why it was possibly to summon her and what she could do.

The attendees, although obviously interested in what Cloud had to say, failed to notice how big of a toll summoning her for this extended period was taking on him.

Zack found himself with his eyes looked unto Cloud, how the blondes his fist had balled up tightly, and how constrained his facial expression had gotten.

Zack, despite himself, found that he was worrying.

Just then, Cloud’s eyes seemed to land on Zack and Zack’s utterly worried expression. The blonde, finding himself so shocked and surprised that he was unable to keep a hold on Shiva any longer. The summon began to dissipate in an icy vapor, waving at the kids before she was gone completely.

Left was Cloud, standing as if Shiva herself had frozen him to the spot. The attendees were all looking to him for a summarize on the presentation, yet Cloud found himself stuttering, his eyes not quite leaving Zack, and his expression drifting between anger, confusion and embarrassment all at once.

Perhaps sensing the situation, Barret cleared his throat, and continued speaking on behalf of Cloud. Zack looked away then, suddenly feeling bad and wanting nothing more than to sink into the floor.

This was _so_ not the place to be.

Throughout the rest of the class, Zack would have been a liar if he’d said he was following along with the whole thing. His mind was simply rearing with how to get out of the room as quickly as possible when the class was over.

Before Zack even knew it however, people were clapping, and Barret was looking strangely sheepish as he finished up the lesson. Quickly looking to the side, Zack saw Yuffie packing up her notebook and stationery.

“Yuffie, can you move over? I’m kinda in a hurry??” Zack said, clearly tripping and considering jumping over her head if she wasn’t fast enough with her reply.

“Aww, don’t you wanna stop by aunties? I’m starving, aren’t you?” She asked excitedly.

“Sure, yeah yeah, let’s go, let’s go.” Zack answered desperately, nudging her a little as he urged her to get a move on.

“You,” A chilling voice said then, and Zack felt his stomach drop to the floor.

Too late.

When he looked up into Cloud’s chilly blue eyes, he couldn’t help but shiver. Then, he thought he could hear Kunsel’s words echoing inside his head, _not much honor left to protect, huh big guy?_ Followed by the horrific parody of how he’d been drunk and calling Cloud _Baby_ , of all things.

“Err, Hi?” Zack said, and tried for nice smile, something the other obviously wasn’t too impressed with.

“Oh! Hey Cloud! You two know each other?” Yuffie asked looking between the two and not having the common sense to feel the tensed atmosphere, “That’s great! You can join me Zack for dinner at aunties place, that’s perfect!”

At that Cloud looked obviously bothered, “You know this guy?” he asked, looking back at Zack with utter disgust.

Zack very nearly looked like a kicked puppy, so sad was he at the expression Cloud was giving him. While Zack hadn’t exactly been gunning for a friendship with the self-proclaimed eco-terrorist, it felt bad to know that the guy probably hated his guts.

“Well yeah! He’s pretty much a family, really.” Yuffie said with a shrug, and then took a hold of both Zack and Cloud and dragged the two of them out of the church.

“Wait! Yuffie, I’ve got…err, stuff to do!” Zack tried for lack of anything better to say.

Yuffie rolled her eyes, “No you don’t, you just agreed to come with a minute ago. You’re an honorable man who doesn’t go back on his words, I feel like I’ve heard you say that before, soooo.”

Zack groaned at that and then let himself be dragged off. He figured that destiny, strangely personified as Yuffie at the moment, would take him where he needed to be. And honestly, maybe this was its way of telling Zack to come clean and apologize to Cloud for his obviously horrific behavior when drunk.

Zack consoled himself with that thought, a man of honor couldn’t go on like this.

Things needed to be said, it just felt horrible being hated like this.

Zack didn’t think _now_ was the moment though, but just as things started to get awkward, the atmosphere was saved by the grace of one Yuffie Kisaragi, the ultimate puppy kid. She started rambling about the lesson they’d taken part in, asking Cloud questions which kept him occupied for a great deal of time.

In fact, she kept him occupied even until they reached the restaurant, “Aunty is going to be so excited about having her two favorite boys eating her food together.”

“Two favorite-?” Zack began, but the moment he entered he was overwhelmed by a happy squeal from aunty.

“My two favorite boys!” She said, coming over and standing on her tippy toes to hug all three kids at the same time, thus putting Zack and Cloud’s head so close together, the Zack watched as a startled and embarrassed expression creeped up on the others face. Zack was intrigued, and while Cloud quickly averted his eyes, Zack kept his on him. What was with this guy? He obviously wasn’t as mean as he was trying to be…

Just then aunty finally let go of the trio, and with a beaming smile she said: “I didn’t know the two of you were friends!”

Startled, Zack opened his mouth to clarify, but Cloud beat him to it. “We’re _not.”_ He said clearly, the reddened color in his cheeks starting to fade.

“Tsk, tsk.” Auntie said, two disapproving hands on her hips. “That’s a bad habit of yours darling, you need to be more honest with your feelings.”

At that, Cloud looked absolutely appalled at the injustice and his expression couldn’t help but bring out a snort from Zack. Cloud immediately turned towards him with his icy glare of death, and Zack promptly looked away.

“Auntie, I’m craving hot-pot!” Yuffie said, bouncing on her feet with the thought of good food, and honestly, Zack nearly began salivating at the thought of aunties hot pot himself.

“You little sneak! Just because you brought these two handsome boys with you,” She said before she ruffled Yuffie’s hair, “You take the boys to a table and I’ll get right to it. Sit tight boys!”

Yuffie, looking very satisfied having using Zack and Cloud to acquire her favorite meal, led the boys to the table.

“So how do you two know each other?” Yuffie asked, sitting in between the two and looking curiously at them.

Yuffie, knowing the two of them, would know that Zack was a Shinra employee and that Cloud was second in command at AVALANCHE. Still, she didn’t seem to find it particularly odd that the two would know each other. She possessed at the moment, an attitude of aloofness which Zack dearly wished he could cover himself with.

Then, something clicked in Zack.

Maybe that’s _exactly_ what he should do.

“Well, the guy was in a protest at HQ and I almost arrested him.”

Yuffie instantly burst into laughter, as if she’d known something hilarious had been coming her way “Really?! No way!! What a way to meet!”

Cloud seemed taken aback by the honesty, if his expression was anything to go by. “You!” he accused lamely.

Zack shrugged, “Yuffie knows what I do for a living, and since she goes to your classes, I presume she knows what you work with. No real reason to lie here, also, lying is dishonorable.” Zack said resolutely.

“You _would_ say that.” Yuffie commented.

“Why were you at the class then, huh? You _are_ spying, aren’t you?” Cloud asked, having quickly come to terms with the fact that the cards were being put on the table.

“Aerith invited me.” Zack answered simply.

“Aerith?!” Cloud exclaimed, but then he facepalmed disappointedly “ugh, why am I even surprised?”

Just then, auntie came down with the food and told them sweetly to start eating before she scurried back to the kitchen.

As Yuffie and Zack began to chow down, Cloud sat there, mostly looking awkward and out of place. There was still some stuff left unsaid, and Zack felt bad about it.

“Hey Yuff, how did _you_ get to know this guy?” Zack asked, he wasn’t ready yet to be feel embarrassed all over again, he’d leave _that_ subject to a little later.

“Oh! We’ll I just heard some rumors at the school that there was a banned subject being taught in the Sector 5 slums, I was intrigued so I went.” She said with a shrug, but then smiled brightly, “Cloud is just so handsome, who wouldn’t wanna keep going to his class.” She said with a snicker.

“You little rascal,” Zack said fondly before she poked her side, and looking up at Cloud, he saw that the other felt perturbated by the compliment, perhaps looking only a little exasperated but entertained. “You should say you go back to a class because it’s good, chipmunk.” He told her, to which she merely stuck her tongue out like a brat. “But uhh, yeah, it was you know. A good class I mean” Zack said, scratching his head a little sheepishly as he looked up at Cloud.

Cloud looked surprised, and while his eyes narrowed in suspicion and distaste, you could tell that he was finding the compliment embarrassing – he obviously wasn’t going to thank Zack for it.

Still, Zack carried on, “I guess I really didn’t know… about how much I _didn’t_ know.” Zack saw Cloud’s expression soften then, and Zack took that as sign of progress. “I think it’s really great that you’re teaching this kind of stuff, because people obviously don’t know too much about it. It’s uh, very noble.” He said with a small smile.

Surprisingly, Cloud scoffed at that. “Well aren’t you full of contradictions.”

Zack turned his head in question, “Huh?”

“I don’t want any half-assed sympathy from a Shinra dog. You’ve heard Barret’s speech and you’ve even been to our lesson, and you’re showing us sympathy while you still choose to work there? Give me a break.”

Zack felt disappointed then… It had been going so well.

“I mean, I do still have my dream, and it’s the same dream as before. But… I feel like what I want to do once I achieve it, might have differed a little now.” Zack said, finding himself oddly embarrassed.

“Are you blushing Zack?!” Yuffie asked, inspecting his face with entertained stars in her eyes. _The brat._

Zack wasn’t going to admit any time soon, that meeting AVALANCHE, meeting Cloud… It had changed something inside him.

“Shut up you little brat,” Zack said before he launched a dangerous tickle attack, and Cloud had to keep the table still.

The evening continued, and after the air had cleared a little, it became much more pleasant. Yuffie was still the one doing most of the talking, but Zack did ask Cloud a question or two once in a while. 

Once the food was done, and Zack was feeling happy and full, he and Cloud said their goodbyes to Yuffie and the auntie.

When they were outside though, Zack finally gathered his courage.

“Hey man… I just wanna say, I’m sorry about how I behaved at the bar that night. It was never my intention to make feel uncomfortable, so yeah, I’m really sorry.”

In the dark of the slums, Zack couldn’t quite see Cloud’s expression, “What as your intention then? To embarrass me?”

“No! Of course not!” Zack said, which was true of course, he’d never had that kind of malicious intent. He cringed a little then but convincing himself that true men spoke only the truth, he admitted. “I called you that because… you look so _soft_ and _fluffy_ and your eyes are so big and blue and uuuhh, I just thought you were really cute.”

Zack looked up then, and saw that Cloud looked absolutely furious. It was understandable really, which guy wanted to be called a _baby_ anyways??

Zack scurried to correct himself then, above all, for whatever reason, he didn’t want this guy hating him again.

“Wait, no! What I meant to say is, you’re exactly my type!” Zack exclaimed, and when he saw how Cloud’s eyes got as wide as saucers, he knew this hadn’t been the level of truth he should have let out.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed & go FFVII Remake!!!! <3


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